Right Way

 10/14/15             Jim               about 55

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” The Bible warns us against wishful thinking, against relying on our own ability to decide what is true rather than on God’s wisdom.  This is perhaps illustrated most vividly when it comes to what “common sense” says about heaven and hell.  “Surely a loving God wouldn’t punish people in hell” a man named Jim from a neighborhood church told me.  I remember how – as a longtime Christian – I wanted to believe the same thing, that Jesus couldn’t be serious in His warnings about eternal punishment.  I had viewed man’s happiness, rather than God’s holiness, as God’s highest priority, and failed to see that although God loves mercy, He also loves justice.  To downplay God’s holiness leads to the trivializing of our sin, which minimizes the cost of justice, which makes the cross unnecessary and heaven something we can “buy” by our own self-righteous efforts.  That’s where I found Jim, trusting in his own efforts to be good rather than trusting in the work of Jesus on the cross.  I ended our conversation with this passage, which I hope Jim will take to heart: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)